CITY HALL — A City Council committee approved a pair of Police Department reforms Monday, even though one may soon be a moot point with the dissolution of the Independent Police Review Authority.
The Finance Committee approved an ordinance amendment sponsored by Aldermen Edward Burke (14th) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) calling for IPRA's chief administrator to be present for Council debates on police settlements.
Yet the Police Accountability Task Force recently advised that IPRA be disbanded, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel came out in favor of creating a new civilian police-oversight board last weekend.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) wondered if the new measure would automatically apply to the new review board.
Burke said no, adding, "If and when there's a successor agency, we can amend this."
It nonetheless passed without opposition.
The committee passed two new police settlements worth a total of $3.2 million Monday, both of which concerned cases still under IPRA investigation, but IPRA had no representative present at the hearing.
The committee likewise passed an ordinance amendment calling for the Police superintendent to report all deaths in police custody directly to the Cook County state's attorney. That too passed without opposition.
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